Our dogs, particularly Cedar, the beagle/chow mix started walking up and down my length at a bit before 5am...tried some growling and whining, and eventually shifted into gentle biting of any exposed flesh by a few minutes after 5...I got up...5am is the line that I have drawn in the bedclothes, I have to be up and about soon anyway, so what the heck...
I am not always at my best first thing, but that's when the dogs have to go out...we put Cedar on a rope/run and let Zeke walk alongside me...that's the plan anyway...this morning, it went a bit differently...
With sleep still in my eyes and brain, I hooked up Cedar, and let zeke run over to the bushes to take care of business, when I hear an amazing racket in the garage...our garage is a building designed to house cars in name only...it is filled with camping and outdoor gear, boxes of stuff we haven't moved back inside since we changed the carpets (4-5 years ago...I know...I know), geocaching stuff, and cardboard boxes which haven't been dealt with yet...
The sounds from the garage are like the end of the world...screaming, crashes, thuds, barking...I look down at Cedar, and notice...finally... that Zeke is attached to the rope, and Cedar is attached to the noise in our garage...Zeke looks embarrassed, but assures me that he loves me anyway...
From the level, variety, and intensity of the sounds emmanating from the garage, I am certain that Cedar is not alone, and that he is not either chasing a chipmunk or fighting a bear (it would already be over in both cases, and it is, if anything...if possible...continuing to grow louder with each passing second)...
The garage is, as I have mentioned, filled with bulky, pointy, and heavy things which I will likely trip over if I venture in there...I also don't relish the idea of entering through the door which connects the garage to our house, lest they bring the battle inside...
I throw Zeke back inside, with his legs crossed I hope, and race outside in my boxers to face the mystery-beast...I peer into the dark through the grimy garage window, and become certain that I have no wish to navigate the dark and angry-sounding garage almost naked, but feel that Cedar's playmate may soon figure out that he is a wimp after you get past the noise...
I flip on the headlights of Gail's car (parked in the driveway for reasons I discussed earlier) and pull the garage door up...and see...a raccoon "tree-ed" up our ridiculously tall taboggan...both coon and Cedar snarling, snapping, and spraying drool and invective all over each other and the garage...I dart in lithe and lean as a sleepy, clumsy bear wearing boxers and boatshoes...grab Cedar by the neck (hoping fervently that the coon doesn't decide to pounce on my head, which must be feet from his jaws, although I swear I could feel his breath and saliva on my neck)...and drag the brown-dog (an insult created in his honor, in our family) back to the house...
I ran back out to close the garage door, so that the beastie wouldn't assault Gail and Ben later when they went off to their respective schools, and to take some pictures...you can see from the long range shot how cluttered the garage is, and why I was scared to venture into the maelstrom of snappy little teeth...the close-up shot shows how pissed off Brutus (the raccooon) was...he was snapping and hissing and growling and taking silly swipes at me with his claws...
I got back inside just in time to hear Ben calling for me to come in and help get him up...he likes to wait for me in his bed...I made warmed milk for him, coffee for me, and bagels for both of us, sat down to enjoy it with him, looked at the clock, and saw that it was...
5:20am
I was ready for the day to be over, but it was just starting...I got through the day fine, am about to go pick up Ben, and am looking forward to a weekend of geocaching with him down in Long Lake!!!
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